Syracuse 2 Columbus 0
• Peacock (W, 2-1) 7IP, 1H, 0R, 4BB, 7K
• Wilkie (S, 9) 1⅓ IP, 0H, 0R, 0BB, 0K
• Aubrey 2-4, R, 2B
• C Brown 2-3, 2B
Brad Peacock took a no-no into the 8th inning in Syracuse’s 2-0 victory over Columbus. Peacock walked four batters through four and ran up a very high pitch count early. After that, he settled down and was dominant until he gave up a leadoff double to Beau Mills. Collin Balester came on in relief and walked two and struck out two to load the bases before Josh Wilkie came in and induced a ground out. Wilkie went on to pitch a scoreless 9th to earn the save. Syracuse scored two runs in the fourth on a Chris Marrero single, Michael Aubrey double, an RBI groundout from Jesus Valdez, and an RBI triple from Tug Hulett. Syracuse improves to 45-58, fourth place in the I.L. North and 16 games behind Lehigh Valley.

Bryce Harper continued to bounce back from his early Eastern League slump with a dominating performance in a 6-3 Harrisburg win over Bowie. Harper whipped out the full offensive arsenal with a single the other way and stolen base in his first at-bat, a homer in his third AB, and a rope of a single in his fourth at-bat. He had plenty of help as Tim Pahuta and Devin Ivany would each go long for the Senators for a total of four RBI. Ollie Perez pitched five and 2/3rds innings of excruciating five-walk ball in the heat before Jimmy Barthmaier added a sixth walk then stranded Perez’s runner at first, which earned him the win. Corey VanAllen pitched a scoreless 7th and Rafael Martin Rafael Martin pitched a scoreless eighth, but struggled to hold a 6-1 lead in the 9th, which required Pat McCoy to record the final out for the save. With the victory, Harrisburg improves to 59-46, good for a 1½ game lead over Richmond and Bowie in the E.L. West.

Sammy Solis carried a shutout into the 8th, but a one-out RBI double chased him from the mound but got him his fourth win in five starts as Potomac crushed the Blue Rocks, 5-1. The 2nd-round southpaw retired 13 straight beginning with a double play to end the 3rd and ending with a leadoff walk in the 8th. The P-Nats bats pounded out nine hits, with J.R. Higley and Justin Bloxom both going 2-for-4 with an RBI to lead the way, while the defense played error-free and turned two double plays. Frederick still lead the P-Nats by two games, but Potomac’s 19-13 mark is eight games better than both Lynchburg and Wilmington, making a rematch of last year’s divisional round of the C.L. playoffs even more likely.

Hagerstown Suns — OFF DAY
Yesterday was an off day for the Hagerstown Suns, as they embark on an eight-game road trip with four against Delmarva over the weekend, then four against Hickory from Monday to Thursday before returning to Municipal Stadium next Friday [Insert joke about whether it’s a day game or night game here].

A rehabbing Brad Meyers and 7th-round pick Brian Dupra each tossed four strong innings as the Auburn Doubledays pitchers outdueled the Hudson Valley Renegades, 3-1. Both teams had just four hits, but the Doubledays had the fortune to get three of them in the same inning. In the 6th, a Connor Rowe single, Jeremy Mayo walk, and a Hendry Jimenez single loaded the bases, while Bryce Ortega’s single, Matt Skole’s sac fly and an RBI grounder by Justin Miller unloaded the bases. Ben Grisz was the last man on the mound for the Doubledays, pitching a scoreless 9th for his fourth save. With the win, Auburn keeps pace with Jamestown and Mahoning Valley atop the Pinckney Division at 22-17, two games ahead of Batavia and Williamsport.

GCL Nationals — OFF DAY
It’s four days on, one day off the rest of the way for the G-Nats, who are 10 games out with a 12-19 mark and have an elimination number of just 16 with 25 games left to play.

A modest three-game winning streak was broken with an 8-2 loss by the D-Nats to the D-Giants. Felix Moscat started and went the first six, allowing three runs on eight hits and a walk with six strikeouts. The duo of Jesus De Los Santos and Brian Escolastico lived up to their four-digit ERAs, surrendering one run in the 7th and four more in the 8th to erase any doubt. Both D-Nats runs came in the 9th, with Diomedes Esuebio the lone batter to hit safely twice by leading off the 9th with a solo shot to break up the shutout. The loss drops the D-Nats to 25-24, five games off the pace.

8 Responses to “Thursday’s News & Notes”

Finally got a chance to see the Senators yesterday. I’m no amateur scout, but a few impressions.
1) Bryce Harper is certainly the truth at the plate. This is not news to anyone of course. The first single was a nice opposite shot that just cleared the infield. They were determined to pitch him soft outside and he went with it. The stolen base was helped by a throw on the left side of the bag, he might have been out otherwise. The second at bat was the most controversial. He thought he’d seen ball four, dropped the bat and walked more than half way to first before he was called back. The ump then proceeded to understandably widen the zone and he was called out on a strike 3 that he clearly thought was outside. He then threw down the helmet and a few of the Baysox fans gave him the business. His homer was on a two strike count (1-2 I think) and was pulled with authority, cleared the wall by at least 10 feet. His fourth hit was a rope to right. He’s going to be an aggressive, fiery player and I was privileged to see his first E.L. homer.

2) It was hot. Real hot. Next time I’ll ask for the shady seats. I was just far enough back to not be able to call pitches and just far enough front to be 15 rows in front of the shade. Not a good choice.

3) I have yet another reason to hate Ollie Perez. Ollie Perez is solely responsible for the 3:07 time of game. 5 walks and innumerable throws to first plus a deliberate manner on the mound.

5) Rafael Martin was fine his first inning, but inexplicably wild in the 9th, walking the leadoff man. Maybe he cooled off too long during the long top of the 9th.

6) It was really gratifying to see Tim Pahuta and Devin Ivany, long time organizational guys have big games. I think there were some Potomac or local minors fans behind me and they were pumped to see them have big games.

Anyways, short of seeing Derek Norris walk, there wasn’t too much more I could ask for in this game given our starter.

It was a slam, it was not a toss. And yes, you could probably say he was trying to show up the ump. This is what he does every at bat. If he has three balls, the next pitch he drops his bat and heads for first before it is ever called. Then the next pitch when the ump rings him up, he slams his helmet. It happens all the time like clockwork.

sould: Glad you were able to catch the game in person. I listened to most of it on the MiLB internet feed (a rare mid-week day off), and Perez is definately a slug going to the plate, even with empty bases (get the sign, pause, set… …, and the pitch). With men on base, he’s even worse. Sorry you had to suffer through that.

Harper had a breakout kind of game, and both Pahuta & Ivany (OG’s) chipped in as well on the win; Good stuff, and hurray for all of them.

I second the thanks SD. The drama with the SO’s does not end until the lad turns 20. Than again, most ML Umps take only a few steps of the batter toward 1st to decide the pitch was a strike. Maybe the MiLB Umps are noticing when Harper is up?